1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to video and other tape cassette systems, recorders and playback methods and apparatus, and to magnetic tape cassettes and to cartridges usable in such cassettes.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following disclosure statement is made pursuant to the duty of disclosure imposed by law and formulated in 37 CFR 1.56(a). No representation is hereby made that information thus disclosed in fact constitutes prior art, inasmuch as 37 CFR 1.56(a) relies on a materiality concept which depends on uncertain and inevitably subjective elements of substantial likelihood and reasonableness and inasmuch as a growing attitude appears to require citation of material which might lead to a discovery of pertinent material though not necessarily being of itself pertinent. Also, the following comments contain conclusions and observations which have only been drawn or become apparent after conception of the subject invention or which contrast the subject invention or its merits against the background of developments which may be subsequent in time or priority.
Also, no preamble of any statement of invention or claim hereof is intended to represent that the content of that preamble is prior art, particularly where one or more recitations in a preamble serve the purpose of providing antecedents for the remainder of a statement of invention or claim.
German Patent Publication No. 28 45 238, for "Sound Film Recorder With Drive," by Ottmar-Paul Haberkern, published Apr. 30, 1980, suggested that a film cassette capable of being swung open would have the advantage that the amateur could insert into the cassette his self-made films or any purchased film title, and, after having closed the cassette shut, could display the program at the push of a button. In that manner, that German patent publication points out, the amateur needs to purchase the cassette only once, thereby being able to purchase film audiovisual programs with his savings.
That German patent publication contemplates that the film be inserted and removed while on a reel, mentions a conical fitting to clasp the cassette lid in a closed position, and shows the cassette lid hinged to opposite sides of the cassette casing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,779, by P. G. Bielik, issued May 11, 1976 for Cartridge with Removable Take-up Sub-cartridge, requires the use of base film that is stiff enough that it can be made to travel through a threading path by pushing it from the supply side toward the take-up side. This would not work with any of the audio or video tape on the market today, which is only 0.001 inch or about 25 micron thick, and thereby too flimsy to push even half an inch or even one centimeter. Furthermore, the system is not bi-directional; that is, the film moves only from the supply side to the take-up side. Once it is cut by the built-in knife, it cannot be threaded back toward the supply side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,710, by Dobbs et al, issued Feb. 10, 1981 for Reloadable Cassette discloses a clamshell type of cassette from which magnetic tape reels may be removed and which may be reloaded with new magnetic tape reels. One disadvantage of that approach is that the user has to handle two reels and that the tape is exposed to extensive damage and contamination through handling during tape removal and reloading.
The above mentioned German patent application does not suggest how such damage and contamination could be avoided. Especially in the case of video tapes, it is very important that handling of the tape by the user be avoided, and conventional video tape cassettes for that purpose have a normally locked hinged front cover, which prevents touching of the tape and which is only opened by special mechanism in the video tape recorder or playback apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,351, by R. Zoellner, issued Jan. 8, 1985 for Housing for Tape Cassette, relates to a container or housing for receiving a small mini-tape cassette consisting of at least two moveable half sections and adopting it for use in a larger recording/playback apparatus, whereby the sections are separated and the tape brought into the pickup position for the larger apparatus in a relatively automatic manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,384, by H. Umeda, issued Dec. 10, 1985, for Miniature Type Tape Cassette and Adapter Means, relates to the VHS-C cassette system developed by its assignee. The primary purpose of that system, like that of the above mentioned Zoellner patent, is to allow video tape in a small cassette to be recorded on in miniaturized equipment and then played back in a standard recorder using an adaptor. Since the small cassette is just as complicated and just as expensive as a standard cassette, savings of the type contemplated in the above mentioned German patent publication are not realized thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,330, by T. Shimizu, issued July 2, 1985, for Tape Cassette Having Removable Reels, requires the user to handle one or more separate reels which are individually inserted into, and removed from, the cassette.
A pin-shaped engaging part on a leader of the tape supply has to be manually inserted into a takeup reel hub groove, with the leader or tape being inserted sideways into a slit or slits in the cassette frame or takeup reel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,497, by Lowry et al, issued July 18, 1972, for Tape Cartridge Mechanism for Computer, discloses a cartridge having a stabilizer system for standard computer tape reels that may be placed in the cartridge for recording and that may subsequently be removed from the cartridge for use in a computer. The cartridge includes a cover which is joined to a base by a piano hinge that allows the case to be opened fully so that the top wall of the cover and the bottom wall of the base lie in the same or parallel planes.
Forerunners, as well as prototypes, of present-day video tape recorders may, for instance, be seen from U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,942, by Sugaya et al, issued July 4, 1972 for magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus with a two-reel-type cassette, having tape supply and takeup reels arranged side by side or concentrically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,757, by Katsu Inaga, issued Oct. 9, 1973 for magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus with tape guide and pick-up system for use with a tape cartridge or cassettes having tape supply and takeup reels arranged concentrically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,036, by Walter Eibensteiner, issued Mar. 12, 1974 for recording and playback apparatus and two-reel-type cartridge having tape supply and takeup reels arranged side by side or concentrically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,314, by Seiji Sato, issued Mar. 26, 1974 for recording and reproducing apparatus and cartridge with concentrically arranged tape supply and takeup reels, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,198, by Kihara et al, issued Aug. 20, 1974 for magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus with a two-reel-type cassette.
Reference may also be had to VCR manuals, such as the SONY SERVICE MANUAL, for the VO-1600 VCR, published 1972 by Sony Corporation.
In a different vein, U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,993, by L. H. Moomaw, issued May 3, 1949 for a motion picture projector, discloses a mechanism for maintaining a fire shutter out of the projection light path by frictional forces exerted on fingers as long as the projector gear advances the motion picture film.